[Translation] Is there a good or bad way to write an ICO white paper?

ICO has been sprouting in many directions, hasn’t it? Last year was relatively peaceful, and when a new project came out I had room to research at my own pace, but now it’s impossible. There are even times when an ICO you’ve never heard of has already ended and launched.

Some projects seem to focus on drawing in money, and those have come to be called “white paper artistry” (laughs).

This translation article is about the pros and cons of white papers. Let’s read it right away.

Are there good and bad ways to write an ICO white paper?

I will never forget the first white paper I read in the blockchain industry (there is no prize for guessing which one it was). Of course, it was the Bitcoin white paper!

I felt hesitant and postponed reading it. The first nine pages were as opaque as hieroglyphs. Eventually I endured the pain, took a four-week break in September 2014 when my daughter was born, prepared myself emotionally, and then decided to read that white paper.

Of course, my wife helped me. It only took me two hours to read the first nine pages, but it took two months to understand them. I could understand the language I was reading, but I could not understand the content.

Three years later, I never would have imagined I’d be reading two to three white papers a week.

White papers are accessible to anyone, and recently their length averages about 10–30 pages, but they come in a variety of formats and lengths.

• Abstract-style white papers like Siacoin, IOTA, and Augur typically contain one or two conventional scholarly columns. Characteristics of such white papers include many mathematical elements and a black-and-white presentation.

• Storj took a small risk by adding some color to the traditional academic paper format. Still, it was basically just colored diagrams.

• Humaniq expanded on this approach by adding a colored world map and fantastical illustrated visuals. They also introduced colored text and, unbelievably, a table of contents.

Colored white papers, like color television, became mainstream

• White papers with graphics like Status and LA Token began to have dedicated color covers. LA Token was a step above Status. Along with bar charts, they used various colors and font sizes, and, perhaps surprisingly, even introduced team member bios!

• Later, “marketing pamphlet”–style white papers appeared from projects like Civic and Monaco. In particular with Monaco, these projects brought in a few new imagery: they were beautiful, appealing, and attempted to create an emotional connection with readers. Unfortunately, such imagery was meaningless and made the “white paper” seem bigger than it actually was.

Everyone followed the essence of the white paper on bitcointalk, along with the standards and conditions of token sales.